In re Grove Street

Citations

• 61 Cal. 438
• 1882 Cal. LEXIS 641

Syllabus

<p>Proceeding to Condemn Land fob Street in the City of Oakland-Eminent Domain—Jurisdiction—Special Proceeding—Petition-Appeal.—The proceedings purport to-have been taken under the Act of March 28, 1878, “to provide for the opening of streets in the City of Oakland. ” The Act requires the petition of five or more residents and freeholders to the City Council to contain, “inter alia,” “a statement that in the opinion of the petitioners the public interests require that - the improvement asked for (describing it generally) should be made.” The averment in the petition of the City Council to the County Court is that the petition of the residents and freeholders to the Council con. tamed a statement that “in the opinion of the petitioners the improvement asked for should be made.”</p> <p>Held: The statement contained in the petition is not the same in substance as that required by the statute, and for this reason the petition of the freeholders did not give power or jurisdiction to the Council.</p> <p>Jurisdiction.—It was not the intent of the statute that the City Council should itself conclusively determine its own power, and the adoption by ' the Council of the “final resolution of determination ” to make the improvement did not conclusively adjudge that the petition of the freeholders was sufficient to give the Council power to proceed upon it.</p> <p>Determination of Board as to Jurisdiction.-—An inferior Board may determine conclusively its own jurisdiction or power by adjudicating the existence of facts upon the existence of which its jurisdiction or power depends. When, however, the power depends not upon the existence or non-existence of matters in pais to be established by evidence, but upon allegations in a petition—a portion of the record—the question is not the same. The petition of the City Council to the County Court affirmatively shows that the proceedings taken before the Council are invalid and gave the County Court no jurisdiction.</p> <p>Objection to